


things they never wanted

by Areiton



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Maria Stark's A+ Parenting, Protective Siblings, the author is basically writing as therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23652211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areiton/pseuds/Areiton
Summary: James Rhodes never wanted a brother.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 109
Collections: IronHusbands





	things they never wanted

Tony Stark had never wanted a sibling. 

He was a child, selfish in the way only children can be, jealous of his mother’s limited affection, and fiercely possessive of Jarvis’. 

And then he was a boy, brilliant beyond his age, and he understood that Howard was cruel and cold, that Maria was, even at her best, distant. That to be a Stark was to be lonely and alone, and he was glad, _fiercely glad_ that he was an only child, that he did not share this lonely childhood with a sibling who would be just as lonely as him. 

He was _grateful_ that they were spared the empty halls and plastic holidays and press conferences that made up his childhood, that they were never subjected to the disdain and disapproval of Howard and quiet nothingness of Maria. 

Tony Stark never wanted a sibling, because he was fiercely, illogically protective of someone who was never born. 

He was, too, _achingly_ alone. 

And then he met James Rhodes. 

~*~ 

James Rhodes never wanted a brother. 

He had three sisters, loud and demanding and competing for his parents attention, for food on their meager table, for recognition in their church and their school and their family. He was set apart _because_ he was the only son--there were higher, different expectations and Jenny bitched about it, but James thrived under that unrelenting pressure and lack of competition. He liked being Daddy’s only son, being Mama’s baby boy, liked being the one to rough up Josie’s boyfriend when he got a little too handsy, liked that Kendra crawled into his arms when she was scared. 

There was something safe in being the only boy in a house full of women, and he never wanted a brother to fuck that up, to muddy the waters. He adored his sisters, would gladly bleed-- _had_ on a few occasions--for them, and never thought he was missing a damn thing. 

And then he met Tony Stark. 

~*~ 

Rhodey--it takes two weeks and one ill-advised kegger to turn James into _Rhodey--_ is like nothing he's ever known. Brilliant, yes, driven and hard working--those are familiar, impossible to notice because every tom dick and harry Howard hired was brilliant and driven and hard-working. 

Rhodey was different because he didn't _care_ that Tony could pay off his student loans and not even scratch his net worth. He was different because he _knew_ who Tony was--"You got your first patent when you were eight, on a robot, what the fuck are you doing _here"--_ but he didn't _care._

He gave Tony shit, in a teasing way that made an answering grin rise to his lips, and was viciously protective when someone else attacked him. 

It was eye opening and startling and life-changing. 

_Rhodey_ was life changing. 

~*~ 

They graduate--Tony first, and then Rhodey while Tony races through his first PhD. They live together, because Rhodey can’t imagine living without him, not when they’re in the same city--it’s as strange a thought as living near but not with one of his sisters. 

He drags Tony home, a skinny white boy with more money than Midas, and Mama tuts at him, feeds him up right while his sisters swarm over him. 

Tony looks baffled, shyly pleased, utterly adoring, and he never asks, so Rhodey never explains but it’s simple. 

It’s so fucking _simple._

Tony’s Rhodey’s brother, the one he never wanted, and his family has claimed him, irrevocably, as their own. 

~*~

Rhodey trots off to the Air Force and Tony takes SI by storm, and there’s competition there, even in separate spheres, a good-natured competition for rank and patents and innovation shouted over Mama’s mashed potatoes and over bemused girls in bars, when they get together. 

It’s different--and somewhere along the way, he stops expecting it to be the same, because Rhodey has _never_ been the same as anything else in his life. 

They can go months without talking or seeing each other before they explode into each other’s life again, large and loud and disruptive, and it’s perfect, two puzzle pieces slotting together, and he knows, he _knows_ from watching Rhodey with his baby sisters--this is what it means, to have a sibling. 

~*~ 

This--this is what it means, to have a brother. 

Rhodey picks him up, when he shatters after his parents die. 

Tony throws the biggest party he’s ever been to, when Rhodey gets a promotion. 

They talk about work and women and worries. They argue about designs and AI and dinner choices. Tony keeps a stock of Rhodey’s favorite beer in his apartment and Rhodey throws clothes at Tony’s head when he stumbles in, drunk and soaking wet and laughing. 

Rhodey cleans up his mess, when Tony gets in too deep with Sunset and Tony quietly has a racist CO ruined, and they _take care of each other._

~*~ 

This--this is what it means, to have a brother. 

He is gone, missing, presumed dead. For three months, he swings between grief and fear--that Rhodey is dead, and that he isn’t. 

For three months, he swings between fury and despair--that Tony is dead, and that he isn’t. 

He never stops looking. He never stops fighting.

And when Tony stumbles out of the desert, it’s into his brother’s arms, steady and strong and protective. 

~*~ 

He never wanted a sibling. 

And Rhodey crashed into his life, and rattled it, taught him what it meant, to not be alone. 

~*~ 

He never wanted a brother. 

And Tony slid into his world, grinning and lonely and everything he didn’t realize he needed, and taught him what it meant, to have a brother. 


End file.
